JIM CHALMERS MP
SHADOW TREASURER
MEMBER FOR RANKIN

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
TELEVISION INTERVIEW

6 NEWS
SUNDAY, 9 MAY 2021

SUBJECTS: Federal Budget; Labor’s priorities for jobs, the economy and the recovery; Repatriation flights from India; China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue; Labor ready to fight and win the next election. 

LEO PUGLISI, HOST: Joining me now to discuss this, and plenty more, is the Shadow Treasurer himself, Jim Chalmers. Thanks very much for joining us tonight. What can we expect to see in Labor's Budget Reply next week?

JIM CHALMERS, SHADOW TREASURER: It’s good to be with you, Leo. Obviously, we need to see what the Government is proposing in the Budget on Tuesday, but already we've made our priorities really clear. We want the economy to be stronger after COVID-19 than it was before COVID-19. That means investing in cleaner and cheaper energy. It means teaching and training our people more effectively. It means sorting out childcare and aged care. And it means being much better as a country at turning our Australian ideas into Australian jobs. So, whatever our response will be via the Leader, Anthony Albanese, on Thursday, I think people know that we're the Labor Party and we're all about jobs. We will be in the response to the Budget. We will be in the election. And, ideally, we will be as part of an Albanese Labor Government after the election, too.

PUGLISI: Now, the Government obviously ended JobSeeker earlier this year, and the RBA wants Aussies to spend, spend, spend. How do you think Morrison's Government, from what we’ve heard so far, and of course it is only rumours and reports, will be able to achieve that? And are Labor's plans actually any better?

CHALMERS: Yeah, I agree with the Reserve Bank, and with your analysis, that what we need to see is some spending in our small businesses, in our shops, in our retail outlets, because that's really, in local communities, one of the ways that we get the economy going. That's why we do support tax cuts for low and middle income earners, who are most likely to spend those tax cuts. We proposed the JobKeeper scheme in the first place, partly for that reason. So, we agree with the objective. It remains to be seen whether or not the Government can get spending going again in the economy, but from our point of view, because our priority is people on middle incomes in particular, rather than people on the highest incomes, I think your viewers have a right to expect that we'll typically be better than our opponents when it comes to getting spending going in local communities. We recognise that there hasn't been enough spending, that's why small businesses and others were struggling even before Coronavirus, so that needs to be a priority.

PUGLISI: On a different topic, just quickly, the Cabinet's National Security Committee obviously signed off on that plan to begin repatriating Australians stranded in India, once that temporary ban is lifted next week. Do you believe that it should have been put in place in the first place?

CHALMERS: I think it's a consequence of the fact that Australia has not, under this Government, been doing well at getting people vaccinated. And nor has the federal Government done a good job of managing the quarantine system. And so, if you take a step back for a moment, and think about why so many people might be stranded, so many Australians might be stranded in India, a lot of it comes back to those two failures - the failure to vaccinate people on the timeframe that was promised by the Prime Minister and the failure to take federal responsibility for quarantine. And so, once those two things have gone wrong, and once you've got this really quite distressing situation in India, then that has been what has necessitated some of these drastic decisions. We think as Australians, we've got a responsibility to do what we can to get people home safely, involving quarantine, involving repatriation flights, and all the rest of it. Unfortunately, I think the Government, once again, made the big announcement about banning people coming home and hadn't thought through repatriation, hadn't thought through some of these other issues. So, it's a little bit messy. We genuinely want the Government to get this right. There are too many anxious Australians in India, and elsewhere in the world, who were told that they could get home by now. And because of those two failures, on vaccinations and quarantine facilities, they haven't been able to. My heart goes out to them. We need to fix this in their interests.

PUGLISI: Is the ban racist?

CHALMERS: Look, I'm reluctant to throw that term around. I know that people have made that allegation. I prefer to think of it as a shambles. And I think that if we had a functioning vaccination system, or better functioning vaccination system, if we had functioning national quarantine facilities, all of these sorts of things, then it wouldn't be necessary. So, I think it's been an issue of competence, rather than necessarily that issue. But clearly, when people make that allegation, it’s a very serious allegation. I'm sure they mean it when they say it. I prefer to focus on the mechanics of what's gone wrong here.

PUGLISI: Right, now later in tonight’s bulletin we’re going to be talking about Beijing suspending the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue. While we’ve got you, I want to get your thoughts on it. How do you view the Morrison Government’s handling of these tensions with the CCP, which have really heated up in the last six months?

CHALMERS: Well, there's a couple of different issues there, Leo. I mean, obviously, it's very disappointing to us, as it is to the Government, and I assume to the broader nation, that China has taken that decision. We would prefer that not be the case, that they go down that path. It is a disappointing path to cancel what has the potential to be a really important discussion between two countries. I think there are broader issues though, with the way that the Morison Government has handled the China relationship. Obviously, we should always stand up for our national interest. Obviously, we should pursue our interests with all countries, including with China. But I think there has been some mismanagement here on at least two fronts. First of all, when you consider how complex this relationship is to manage, and how difficult it is to manage, some of the unhelpful language, some of the exaggerated, quite provocative language, has not been helpful in managing that relationship, out of the Government. And secondly, I think for a lot of exporters, who employ a lot of Australians, there hasn't been anything from the Government to help our exporters diversify, to make sure that they can ride out some of these difficult periods, so that if they are selling into that big Chinese market, they've got lots of irons in the fire, they can continue to sell their goods overseas without being overly reliant. And this has been an issue for some years now, not just the last six months. As you rightly point out, there's been an escalation, but for some years now, there's been a concern here, and I don't think the Government has acted on it. And that has consequences for our exporters. And then it has consequences for all the people that they employ.

PUGLISI: One major issue when it comes to relations with China has to be the treatment of the Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang Province, both sides around the world, seem to be condemning it, though the language can vary on that. Does Labor consider what is going on to be genocide?

CHALMERS: Well, again, I'm reluctant to put labels on it. But, you know, clearly, whether it's our side of the parliament, the Labor side, or the other side, the Liberal and National side, we've raised our serious concerns about these issues which appear to be going on in China. And again, it shouldn't be beyond us to raise these issues in the appropriate forums and including in conversations with the Chinese. To raise that in a constructive way and to use temperate, sober language in describing what is clearly an unacceptable situation. 

PUGLISI: Alright, just quickly, wrapping up before we let you go tonight, because I know you’re very busy. Rumours about a federal election are certainly gaining a lot of traction, as we were speaking about a little earlier tonight. Now, the Liberals have been in power for almost a decade here in Australia. Is Labor still in a good position to win the next election, whether that’s later this year or potentially next year?

CHALMERS: Oh, Leo, I think it'll be incredibly tight, this next election. We'll be ready for it. Whether it's in October, or March, or May next year, we'll be ready for it and we're anticipating a very close contest. There are quite significant benefits to being the incumbent in times like these, but we feel like, under Anthony Albanese's leadership, we've got a firmer focus on more jobs, and more opportunities, for more people. And we think that our policies around cleaner and cheaper energy, aged care and child care, apprenticeships, skills and training, innovation, research and development, all of these policy areas, we think we'll have a more compelling offering for the Australian people. My own feeling is there's every chance, it's just as likely to be this year, than next year, the election. I don't think Scott Morrison wants it to be so obvious how badly he's failing on those vaccines that you just mentioned. And so, that might mean sooner rather than later, but who knows, it's up to him. He'll make a decision based on what gives him the best chance of winning the election. We'll be ready whenever it is.

PUGLISI: Can I just ask, would you ever consider going for Labor Leader? And would you want to be PM?

CHALMERS: I want to be the Treasurer. And I want to be the Treasurer in an Albanese Labor Government at the next available opportunity. You're right to say that we've been opposition now almost ten years. This Government is eight years old. Unfortunately, I was elected on the first day we went into opposition. I've been in opposition ever since. And my only ambition is to be a good Treasurer, in a great Cabinet, led by Anthony Albanese. I want that to happen sooner rather than later. There's a lot that this country needs to do in order to set itself up for the future. I feel like we're just treading water, at best, under the current Government. So, I will do whatever I can, as part of a team, under Anthony's leadership, to win the next election, and give the Australian people that Government that they need and deserve.

PUGLISI: Alright, we'll leave it there. Shadow Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, talking to us on a wide range of political topics. Thank you very much for joining us tonight.

CHALMERS: Thanks for your time, Leo. I appreciate it.

ENDS